This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Monday, 7 April 2014

Believe & Do Good

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is a transcript of
discourse delivered by Mawlana Waffie Mohammed.

When
we look at the messages contained in the Holy Qur’an, we will notice three
basic things. One is that the messages
contained tell us about Allah (s.w.t.), The Creator of the Universe, The
One True God; the second is the rewards associated with doing good and the
third is the consequences for doing evil.
Basically, that is the message Allah (s.w.t.) Gave to mankind all
throughout history.

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)
was special because as Allah (s.w.t.) Says in the Qur’an:

We have not Sent thee but as a (Messenger) to men,
giving them Glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men
understand not. (Surah Saba:28)

And the message that he gave was
of glad tidings and warnings. He was
able to successfully transmit the message that Allah (s.w.t.) Gave to
the believers and also convey a special consolation to man. This is at the end of Surah al-Hadid:

O ye that believe!
Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger, and He will Bestow on you a
double portion of His Mercy: He will
Provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and He
will Forgive you (your past): For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surah
al-Hadid:28)

Belief is more than just
uttering it with the lips. We must keep
faith firm in the heart because whatever is in there, is between our Lord and
us. No one else can see the contents of
one’s heart. Those who really believe in
Allah (s.w.t.) and His Messenger (s.a.w.); Allah (s.w.t.) Says
that He will Give them twice amount of Blessings and a light by which to guide us.

From the very beginning of the
Holy Qur’an, Allah (s.w.t.) has Mentioned all that in it. Firstly, Surah al-Fatihah describes Allah (s.w.t.)
in His True Form. We also affirm that we
need Him to Take Care of us and we recognise the kind of grouping with which we
would like to be associated; those who will be Guided on the straight path.

In our opening prayer we
highlight all these things and this makes us slightly above the previous
nations with regards to our understanding and actions. We have everything before us and we also know
of the consequences of everything because Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) saw
with firsthand knowledge the results of man’s actions. And he was able to narrate as the Revelations
came because he had certain knowledge of it. Sometimes we may ask why Allah (s.w.t.)
Did all this. Why were His messengers
subjected to all those hardships for example?
We really cannot understand the working of Allah (s.w.t.), but we
understand one thing; that if we conform, the end result will be assured for us
to be good, and if we deviate we will just be another statistic, and that is
the message that Islam gave to the world: To believe and do good.

We are special because Allah (s.w.t.)
Says He will Bestow upon us a light if you follow dedicatedly. Our mission is to strive to attain that light
and keep it on the onward journey of life.
May Allah (s.w.t.) Bless all the believers with this special
light and may He Continuously Take Care of our affairs.